How does reading fiction impact our imagination and mental health?
In the 18th century, many believed novels would provoke women to hysteria. Jane Austen disagreed. We look at the evidence: what impact does reading have on the mind and wellbeing?
How does reading shape our mind and spirit? Why do novels make us feel more human?
In front of a live audience at the Hay Festival of Literature & Arts, Claudia Hammond looks at the science of what reading does to the mind and explores the profound impact it can have on our lives and well-being.
She is joined on stage by award-winning novelist and travel writer Joanna Kavenna; Dr Paula Byrne, Jane Austen biographer, writer and co-founder of ReLit: The Bibliotherapy Foundation and Ben Alderson-Day, Professor in Psychology at Durham University and lead researcher on ReaderBank, an ongoing research project studying reading, imagination and wellbeing.
With these leading experts in psychology and the literary world, she examines the range of imaginative experiences that fiction readers have, whether novels can deepen our capacity for empathy and the therapeutic effect of reading on our minds.
Presenter: Claudia Hammond
Producer: Helena Selby
Editor: Ilan Goodman
Production Co-ordinator: Jana Bennett-Holesworth
Last on
Featured
.
Broadcasts
- Tuesday09:30BBC Radio 4
- Yesterday21:30BBC Radio 4
How to Manage Your Worries
A quick and easy guide on how to cope with the things you worry about.
Podcast
![]()
All in the Mind
The show with the latest evidence on psychology, mental health and neuroscience.
Related Content
